The FCC is corporatizing the internet. Light it up!

Battle for the Net! – Net Neutrality Day of Action.

Net neutrality protects our free speech on the Internet. The FCC wants to destroy net neutrality and give internet service providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T control over what we see and do online. If they get their way, they’ll allow widespread throttling, blocking, censorship, and extra fees.

Sample Scripts and Inspirational work :

Here are some ideas for your letter(s)… Remember, use your own voice. They will eliminate anything that looks like a form letter.

(Real-life experiences about how the loss of net Neutrality will affect you…)

Do you work for an internet startup (or a former internet startup)? Are you concerned that your employer would have difficulty staying in business without Net Neutrality rules in place?

Do you work for a small company with an online presence (for example, retail, online publisher, etc.)? Are you worried that your larger competitors, with deeper pockets, could outbid your company for fast-lane internet access?

Are you involved in online political activism that perhaps might bother big business and big money? Any fears about them being able to prevent others from seeing your online content?

Do you have an idea for “the next netflix” that would be made impossible by a rollback of Net Neutrality?

(From Battle for the Net)

The FCC’s Open Internet Rules (net neutrality rules) are extremely important to me. I urge you to protect them. I don’t want ISPs to have the power to block websites, slow them down, give some sites an advantage over others, or split the Internet into “fast lanes” for companies that pay and “slow lanes” for the rest. Now is not the time to let giant ISPs censor what we see and do online.

Censorship by ISPs is a serious problem. Comcast has throttled Netflix, AT&T blocked FaceTime, Time Warner Cable throttled the popular game League of Legends, and Verizon admitted it will introduce fast lanes for sites that pay-and slow lanes for everyone else-if the FCC lifts the rules. This hurts consumers and businesses large and small.

Courts have made clear that if the FCC ends Title II classification, the FCC must let ISPs offer “fast lanes” to websites for a fee. Chairman Pai has made clear that he intends to do exactly this.

But if some companies can pay our ISPs to have their content load faster, startups and small businesses that can’t pay those fees won’t be able to compete. You will kill the open marketplace that has enabled millions of small businesses and created the 5 most valuable companies in America-just to further enrich a few much less valuable cable giants famous for sky-high prices and abysmal customer service.

Internet providers will be able to impose a private tax on every sector of the American economy. Moreover, under Chairman Pai’s plan, ISPs will be able to make it more difficult to access political speech that they don’t like. They’ll be able to charge fees for website delivery that would make it harder for blogs, nonprofits, artists, and others who can’t pay up to have their voices heard.

I’m sending this to the FCC’s open proceeding, but I worry that Chairman Pai, a former Verizon lawyer, has made his plans and will ignore me and millions of other Americans.So I’m also sending this to my members of Congress. Please publicly support the FCC’s existing net neutrality rules based on Title II, and denounce Chairman Pai’s plans. Do whatever you can to dissuade him.

(From around the internet)– I am calling to state that I do NOT want the FCC to change net neutrality rules. A change in rules would take away our freedom on the internet, and negatively impact individual constituents and small businesses alike.

– Net Neutrality is important!! Without it, our corporate overlords could blackmail, say, this site into having to pay a fee to not be served incredibly slowly (or even blocked!). Given the current administration’s record on free speech, we can’t afford to let any communication channels — especially one as important as THE ENTIRE INTERNET — get under corporate control.

– Don’t kill net neutrality. We deserve a free and open Internet with strong Title II rules. This will ensure that the flow of data is determined by the interests of Internet users, not the narrow interests of Internet Service Providers.” {Public Knowledge}

– Why is an open internet important? It means that a one-person startup has just as good a shot at getting business online as the big box store headquartered in a tax haven. Repealing net neutrality rules isn’t a job generator – it’s a job killer. It allows giant companies like AT&T and Verizon to control the Internet, potentially stifling new companies and innovative ideas.

– Net Neutrality is not negotiable. It’s essential to everything we need in our society and democracy — from educational and economic opportunities to political organizing and dissent. Millions of people fought for over a decade to secure lasting Net Neutrality protections. We will not accept anything less. We urge you to reject any attacks on real Net Neutrality. {Save the Internet}

– Please reject any attacks on real Net Neutrality. Net Neutrality is essential for protecting free speech, organizing, business and innovation. I will not stand for any attacks on Net Neutrality or my rights as an internet user.

– I’m writing to urge Chairman Pai/Commissioner O’Rielly to defend Title II net neutrality and protect the internet as a common carrier.

Will the commissioner stand with the majority of Americans and preserve real net neutrality?

(5calls)– I’m calling to express my disapproval that the FCC is trying to kill net neutrality. Preserving an open internet is crucial for fair and equal access to the resources and information available on it.

Internet users scored a significant victory in 2015 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) installed protections for net neutrality and the “open Internet.” Net neutrality allows all users to have equal access to everything available on the Internet, and prevents Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from essentially turning the internet into cable television — creating fast and slow speeds for sites of their choosing and charging consumers premium prices for upgraded access. Without net neutrality, small businesses, low-income individuals, and much of rural America would lose access to affordable, reasonably fast internet service.

The four major ISPs (Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, and AT&T) have been lobbying against the 2014 net neutrality regulations, frustrated by the constraints placed on their ability to profit from those who need their services the most. In response to their persuasions, the new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has pledged to roll back these net neutrality protections and instead rely on the ISPs to instead make voluntary, unenforceable commitments that they will maintain the open Internet. Congress needs to know that net neutrality is not up for debate and the open Internet must be preserved.

When Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook in his Harvard dorm room, he didn’t need to ask Comcast, Verizon, or other internet service providers to add the site to their networks. He also didn’t have to pay these companies extra fees to ensure that Facebook would work as well as the websites of established companies. Instead, as soon as he created the Facebook website, it was automatically available from any internet-connected computer in the world.

That’s network neutrality.

Advocates say network neutrality is a big reason there has been so much innovation on the internet over the last two decades. Network neutrality keeps the barriers to entry for new websites and internet applications low. Supporters say that freedom has allowed the creation of dozens of innovative online services such as Google, Twitter, Netflix, Amazon, Skype, and more.

They worry that without net neutrality, the internet would become less hospitable to new companies and innovative ideas. For example, if large ISPs began requiring video-streaming sites to pay extra to deliver video content to their customers, the expense and hassle of negotiating deals with dozens of network owners could make it difficult for the next YouTube to get traction.

Network neutrality supporters are particularly worried about incumbent broadband providers deliberately hobbling new services that represent a competitive threat to those providers’ own products. For example, telephone companies might be tempted to interfere with internet telephony services such as Skype that compete with traditional phone service. Cable companies might want to slow down services such as Netflix that compete with their paid television service.

All of this is now under attack with Trump’s new appointee, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai—a former attorney for Verizon. We could soon have an Internet where only those who can afford the “fast lane” can get adequate service.

Net neutrality enjoys overwhelming public support—from liberals and conservatives alike. Republicans are making a big mistake if they believe they can undo the progress we have made.

(From http://www.shakesville.com)“Net Neutrality is an access issue. Who has access to information, and what kinds of information. One of the most dangerous potential outcomes of subverting Net Neutrality is that media with the broadest potential audience—i.e. kyriarchy-upholding garbage, which makes money hand over fist—will be the most cheaply accessible, while specialized media—i.e. kyriarchy-challenging material, which struggles to turn a profit—will be the most expensive, since media producers invested in social justice don’t tend to get rich from their work.”

And as Shaker Ignatius Cheezburger noted in the comments of that piece: “The other concern being that if the ISP happens to endorse or support certain political or cultural views as a matter of corporate policy, that ISP can now selectively filter certain content for priority delivery that is in keeping with their views and other content that runs contrary to those views for lower priority delivery, or no delivery at all. For example, NARAL or Planned Parenthood suddenly finds its alerts and updates getting bounced from all of its members within the ClearChannel family. Not good. Not good at all.”

In an era where online organizing is so crucial to fighting back (see: THIS POST), the idea of Net Neutrality being rescinded is absolutely chilling.

(OFA)Net neutrality is the basic principle that your internet provider should treat all information the same—it’s currently the law of the land thanks to the Obama Administration—but this administration wants to roll it back.

We can’t let that happen. Strong net neutrality rules ensure that everyone has equal opportunity to take advantage of the internet. The rules protect things like furthering education or starting a small business for individuals. It’s what’s made the internet such a powerful tool for political organizing and it’s a crucial pathway for historically disadvantaged communities to bypass traditional media gatekeepers.

Rolling back net neutrality would also put an end to rules that stop internet service providers from blocking certain content, prioritizing their own content, or otherwise creating “fast lanes” for paying sites, forcing everyone else into the “slow lane.”